Recent death of 2 Detroit LCN members

Two members of the Detroit family has passed away recently:
Frank "Chinky" Versaci
and Anthony "Tony T" Tocco

What i wonder is, if you look at the charts of the New York families and other families. There are a lots of old members, +70 guys. I expect that they will start to drop like flies, which in return will decrease the membership. This is a serieus problem, the old wiseguys from the 30s and 40s will be gone within 10 years maybe. Do you think the leaders are thinking about that? I mean plans for LCN to survive another 50 years? Or would they think more on how to fill their pockets and survive pressure from the feds.

their probably more concerned with dying at home than in a cell away from their families. Interesting question though. Why would they care about what happens to the family after their dead?

Damn Tony T is dead. The Tocco bloodline is one of the original three piece in the Partnership IIRC. Crazy. Always been a fan of Detroit

I think they will always be around but it will be intresting to see what will be with Genovese,since half of Genovese Family are old guys 1925-1940

well theres plenty of associates to become made. i think the lcn should make the old associates should be made and then make the younger ones

True, but are they the same caliber of gangster as the really competent 1925-1940 cohort?

The Genovese family looks like a demographic time bomb to me. In 10-20 years, about half the family will be dead (and that's granting them a generous life expectancy of about 90).

You're exactly right about almost every aspect of lcn with the exception of a few of the ny families. Once the old time leadership and values are gone, your family turns into a drug trafficking network and that's when it all falls apart. The young guys are in this only for two reasons. 1. they are just attempting to do what their fathers and gradfathers did for the only reason other than to make a little money without getting their hands dirty. 2. they are wannabes and are a direct result of hollywood movies.

Most, and I mean in the upper 80% of the current guys a part of this have no idea what they're doing. Even more so, anyone younger than 35 in this thing grew up with MTV and nintendo, and is, in my mind, putting up a fake image of themselves. Look at the indictments, they all revolve around drugs which is the easiest and most juvenile way to make money. The rest of the indictment are failed attempts at extortion , shylocking,and rackets.
Once the old guys are gone, it will systematically collapse. The government knows it and attacks it in such a way. We always used to joke how everyone wants to be a tough guy until things get tough. That's is the reality of the new blood. Be something in life, someone said this in an earlier post but the government hates competition.

Great post. That's close to what I wanted to say, but you said it better.

Any Italian-American kid with a rich gangster for a dad is going to go to college unless he's really dumb/lazy. Worst case scenario, the might end up as a mob accountant or lawyer like Corozzo, but even in that case his own kids will have nothing to do with the mob.

Look at the Todaros in Buffalo. The patriarch (born around 1920) did what he had to do in VERY different times, Jr made a living as both a mobster and a (ridiculously successful - one of his pizzerias did $100K in sales in a week, which is like 5000+ pizzas and an indeterminate quantity of wings) legitimate businessmen, and Joe the 3rd isn't involved at all AFAIK. Too many pizzas to make.

One of the arguments that you hear about how the families consisting of a bunch of 80 year olds will survive is "oh they have young proteges that they're schooling in the traditional ways of Cosa Nostra waiting in the wings".

^^^ great example! I don't mean to make fun of what you said, because your post was great as well, but "indeterminate quantity of wings" was one of most legendary ways of explaining his success, haha.

40-50 years old guys will stay around etc etc Then other new guys will learn from them well thats how its supposed to be or something like that.

Hahaha, the article just mentioned the total revenues without some kind of breakdown, so I just threw a ballpark idea because I've worked in a pizzeria and know about how revenues are generated from the sales of the pies, but my restaurant didn't sell wings so I have no idea what the added value of the wings would be to La Nova. $100k is a lot. I remember at the pizzeria where I worked (it was a Donatos in Columbus, if you are familiar with that chain) we had $25K in sales in one week and that was considered a really big, top-ranked-in-the-district deal.

I know you're a Cleveland guy and close to Buffalo... you ever meet the Todaros? I met Todaro Jr. Classy, funny, friendly guy who seems to value and respect the hell out of his customers.

The made guys who are in their 40s-50s are the only link to the legendary leaders, so they act like a bridge for the new generation of wiseguys. Thats the only thing that maybe keeps the tradition and rules alive, the same goes for the structure. Without the older made guys, the whole thing would crumble. Of course each generation produces a smart, low key criminal. But its like 1 out of 10 guys.

only a couple of times, I really didn't meet him, more like in the same room with him. I remember him being very "by the book" very careful, a lot of guys had a lot of respect for him. Erie was as far as we would go. His son, I have heard, is a complete class act, I have never had the pleasure in meeting him, but if we was half of the man his father was, I'm sure he's a good kid